WWALS will have a table at Earth Day today, 1PM in the Magnolia Room,
University Center, VSU.
That’s on the east side of Patterson Street,
just south of Brookwood Drive from Drexel Park.
-jsq
Tag Archives: Valdosta
Videos: Aquifers, sinkholes, and groundscans –Prof. Don Thieme
We had to move to a larger room, so many attended this groundwater talk at VSU (about 90). Plus a guest appearance by SAVE.
Here are
Dr. Donald M. Thieme‘s
slides in PDF,
with his longer title:
Coastal Plain Surficial Deposits, Groundwater Resources, and Recent Subsidence in south Georgia
While we are lucky to have abundant groundwater, both from the Upper Floridan Aquifer 100 feet below us trapped in Eocene limestones and from shallow groundwater with its karst features, nonetheless overpumping has caused falls in the level of the aquifer (about 0.6 feet a year at Valdosta), resulting in rapid loss of shallow groundwater, plus surface water that enters and often contaminates the aquifer through those karst features.
Sometimes those karst features subside and manifest as sinkholes like the one that ate Snake Nation Road in Lowndes County and others that can develop slow (many years) or fast (weeks or minutes).
There were also many questions,
starting with what water do personal wells reach?
Also including
a brief history of Valdosta well drilling from artesian to hundreds
of feet down,
and
a sinkhole in a garage in Lowndes County,
should local governments require sinkhole insurance
(including mention of Moody AFB subsidence and Florida citrus growers
pumping so much water it causes sinkholes).
I also introduced the WWALS board members present:
Gretchen Quarterman (Treasurer and videoing),
Bret Wagenhorst (Outings),
Heather Brasell (Secretary),
Dave Hetzel (President),
April Huntley (Director),
me (Vice President),
and Chris Graham (Member);
plus a brief summary of WWALS events and outings.
Here’s
a video playlist:
Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition @ VLCIA 2013-04-16
Water issues strongly affect economic development, so I talked about
the new WWALS Watershed Coalition at the
16 April 2013 Board Meeting
of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.
The VDT declined to speak, so I did. After apologizing for no okra today, I commended the Authority for talking about the missing agenda items and for mentioning due diligence and flood control.
Mostly I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition,
www.wwals.net,
incorporated in June 2012, which is about watershed issues
such as flooding, water quality, and invasive species related to the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee,
Alapaha, and Little River System.
I mentioned
arsenic in some local well water,
which
the Department of Health has finally said should be tested,
three years after
Janet McMahan discovered it was a problem.
I invited VLCIA board and staff to two upcoming WWALS events:
- 20 April 2013 Withlacoochee Paddle, which has since happened, and unfortunately none of them paddled.
- 11 May 2013 Janisse Ray reads at a fundraiser at Black Shank Pavillion in Tifton.
WWALS board meetings are every second Wednesday of the month, usually at the IHOP in Adel because it’s centrally located. WWALS is communicating with Valdosta and various organizations about flooding and other watershed-wide issues, which in my opinion have to do with things like too much clearcutting without consideration for where the water goes, too much development without consideration for what the impervious surface would do, (to my surprise, the Executive Director and several board members nodded along with that) so it was good to hear them mention flood containment.
Here’s the video:
Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland, Chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton, Attorney, Tom Davis, CPA, Allan Ricketts, Project Manager,S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 April 2013.
-jsq
Reservoirs for control of stormwater –Tim Carroll
Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll spoke about the need for watershed-wide
planning to reduce flooding and provide water for agriculture with
distributed flood containment reservoirs.
He
referred to
the
materials he sent in advance
as well as to some additional data about water quality measurements
upstream and downstream of selected points.
And he sent an update the next day.
Tim Carroll noted that one thing that was clear from the
Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson’s 2010 presentation to the
Suwannee-Satilla Water Council about the 2009 flood was that the
drainage basin study proposed by that Council (which completed
its report and disbanded) still needs to be completed.
For that purpose, Hanson had just sent
a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting assistance.
Apparently they have
partial answer,
and they’re also talking the state.
Carroll said that with the renewed attention to flooding problems Continue reading
Tim Carroll of Valdosta at WWALS board meeting tonight
Valdosta City Council member Tim Carroll will speak tonight
at the monthly WWALS Watershed Coalition board meeting
at 7:30 PM at the IHOP in Adel (exit 39 from I-75, 1200 W 4th St, Adel, GA, 229-896-2662); the public is invited.
In advance he sent the appended letter from the City of Valdosta
to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting assistance related to
flooding and droughts.
March 11, 2013Continue reading
William Bailey
Chief of Planning Division
US Army Corps of Engineers – Savannah District Office
100 W. Oglethorpe Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31401Dear Mr. Bailey,
Over the last several years, the City of Valdosta and neighboring communities have been severely impacted by the increase of flood events that have occurred throughout our region and particularly the drainage basin we are located in. The city recognizes the various levels of responsibility throughout government agencies for flood management and flood control and is interested in furthering the discussions to understand the changes that are occurring and to ensure the protection of our communities from future flood events.
In February 2009, the city began updating its 1996 Master Stormwater Management Plan. In April, just two months later, our county along with 46 counties in south Georgia, experienced historic flooding and were declared disaster areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported
Flooding in Brooks and Lowndes County –jkluke
CNN iReports lets citizens send in videos.
One jkluke has posted four videos of flooding on the Withlacoochee River.
-
28 February 2013:
Brooks County Ga Flooding
His canoe gunwales reached about the top of his cabin deck. -
28 February 2013:
River Flooding
Standing on his cabin deck, you can see the river rushing by. -
3:45 PM 1 March 2013:
Flooding in south Georgia
He reported the river was cresting, about 2 inches below his cabin deck, and he recommended against anybody canoing in the river due to its speed. -
1 March 2013:
Flooding in Brooks and lowndes county Georgia
He reported the cresting level was about 2.5 to 3 feet below the 2009 high.
Here’s that last video embedded:
-jsq
PS: Owed to John C. Griffin.
Emily Davenport, Storm Water Utilities Director, City of Valdosta, at WWALS 27 June 2013 2012
The first speaker at a WWALS board meeting after incorporation was Emily Davenport, the Storm Water Utilities Director for the City of Valdosta.
Emily Davenport, Brittney Hull (Treasurer), Angela Bray of SGRC, Dave Hetzel (President), Nathan Wilkins (Secretary), visitor, Gretchen Quarterman, Bret Wagenhorst, John S. Quarterman (VP, photographing)
-jsq
WWALS outing called because of weather, but….
Gretchen posted:
The “official” event is off because of the weather. However, if you
want to see the location, gather at Gary Rampley’s, past Mullins Lane at 6974 Old State Road and park in his yard and then walk to the River (less than .2 miles) at 1:00. Meet others who like a cold, rainy outing.
Or, at 2:00pm meet at Let’s Eat Cafe (Exit 18 from I75—across from Austin’s Steak House at the Shell Station) to discuss strategies for keeping access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County.
Our local hosts still want to meet up with interested folks and for those not up to braving the weather, we will be indoors at Let’s Eat (an excellent local place to meet and eat).
Big Little Water: Camera 1 Videos on the Withlacoochee by Tom Baird
Here are videos of
Tom Baird’s talk for
WWALS hosted at VSU by
Blazer Gardens,
about the
Y-shaped Withlacoochee, or Suwannee, or
Swithlacoochee,
from
the dry Paleo-Indian era 14,000 or more years ago
through
atlatls in the woodland period
and
Troupville queen city
through the
Ellaville log boom
to
current-day over-pumping of the aquifer.
Here’s a playlist.
Adopt-A-Stream water quality testing training with WWALS 2012-08-25
Students getting water from creek for Adopt-A-Stream water quality testing training.
Angela Bray of the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC), assisted by Richard Battenn of SGRC and Al Browning, taught an Adopt-A-Stream water quality testing workshop Saturday 25 August 2012 in Valdosta.
Here’s a video playlist.
A few highlights:
Continue reading